


Camp Sick

by butteredbread



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Fever, No Smut, No maxvid ya nasty shits, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-05-18 09:08:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14849910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/butteredbread/pseuds/butteredbread
Summary: Max's worst fear comes true: he gets sick at camp.





	1. Morning

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy??? Maybe???

It was a bright, sunny morning at Camp Campbell. The early rays streamed through the trees, rousing the campers.

Nikki was up in seconds, yawning and stretching. Neil and Max stayed asleep, even as Nikki blinked the sleep from her eyes and bounced to her feet. She cast an eye over her two friends, debating whether or not to wake them, before shrugging and leaving the tent on her own. The other two would catch up soon. 

Neil appeared in the mess hall, rubbing his eyes, just as Nikki slid into a seat. She waved to him, and he waved groggily back. She looked towards the doors, but Max wasn’t there. She frowned and shouted at Neil, “Where’s Max?” Looking faintly annoyed, he mouthed back, “Still sleeping. You know how he is.” Nikki sighed and nodded, but was soon distracted by her food as she shoveled forkful after forkful into her mouth, using two forks in each hand to help her. 

Soon, her tray had been cleared. She burped in satisfaction, then went to get another helping. As she stood in line behind Neil, she remembered Max, and turned towards the doors again. Still, he did not show up. She was beginning to get worried. Where was he?

 

Max woke up to too-bright sunlight shining in his face. Groaning, he rolled over, curling up into a ball. His mind kicked into gear slower than it usually did, but he gradually remembered that he was at a stupid summer camp, plagued daily by David, his stupid, infuriatingly cheerful counselor. He sat up, a frown already on his face, before grabbing at the sheets as the world spun around him. The moment faded, but he was left feeling shaky and weak, hands still clasped around his bedsheets. He made to rub at his eyes, but jerked his hand away when he felt his burning skin brush his hand. He flopped backwards onto his pillow, realizing that the thing he had feared most had come true. 

He had gotten sick at Camp Campbell. 

His mind raced feverishly as he tried to figure out what he should do. At home, he would simply tell his parents that the school day had been canceled for one reason or another, and they’d believe him. They didn’t really give a shit about him or his school. 

But here, he couldn’t pull that off. David would track him down if he tried to hide, wouldn’t believe him if he said that his parents had given him permission to not to the activities, and would force him to participate in the activities if he went to camp. The only way to get out of the day would be to admit to David that he was sick. 

NO.

Max ground his teeth, thinking about what would happen if he did that. David would be so concerned, so pitying. He couldn’t stand it when people were like that about him, especially someone so obnoxiously happy. No, he wouldn’t tell David. He would go to camp, act like everything was fine, and simply wait out the sickness. 

With that decided, he sat up again and hopped out of bed. He shivered, even in the summer air, and was grateful to pull his warm hoodie over his head. His fingers were weak and fumbling as he tried to tug his jeans up. Eventually, through sheer willpower only, he was dressed. He leaned against Neil’s desk for a moment, shaking, then steeled himself and walked out the door, pausing to glance at himself in the mirror on his way out. The skin of his face was flushed and his eyes were glassy, but nothing too bad. The red tint was hardly visible on his tanned skin, and since he kept his eyes in a half-lidded glare most of the time, the glassy quality wouldn’t be too visible. He breathed a sigh of relief, then marched out of the tent towards breakfast. 

By the time he got there, he was breathing hard and a stitch had formed in his side. He leaned against the outside wall, shaking. He almost wanted to sob at the prospect of standing for who know how long in a line just to get breakfast. But, reminding himself of what would happen if he didn’t, he managed to force himself to stand up and walk in. 

Neil and Nikki were the first ones to notice him. Nikki waved, but Neil frowned. As Nikki’s attention turned back to her food, Max glared into Neil’s eyes and made a zipping motion across his mouth. Neil’s eyes narrowed, but seeing the look of desperation and anger in Max’s glazed eyes, he slowly nodded and turned back to his food. Max concentrated on the ground, using all his energy just to keep from falling over. 

By the time he got his food, the stitch in his side was making him hunch over. He walked as quickly as he could over to Neil and Nikki’s table, dropping his tray with a loud thud. He plopped into the seat across from Nikki and slouched over his food. 

Nikki slowed her eating to give Max a concerned look. “Hey Max, you alright? You look grumpier than usual.”

Max glared up at her without moving his body. “I’m FINE,” he snapped. “DESPITE the fact that you kept me up half the night with your sleep talking, Nikki.”

She shrugged. “Yeah, that happens,” she said carelessly, then refocused on her food.   
Max didn’t feel like eating. His stomach clenched at the thought, and his palms grew sweaty as he swallowed back the saliva that suddenly filled his mouth. Knowing that he had to, he forked up some of the disgusting camp food and put it into his mouth, barely chewing before forcing himself to swallow. The gross, slimy, churning feeling that accompanied the food entering his stomach did not make him any more enthusiastic about eating, but nevertheless, he doggedly shoveled the gruel into his mouth. He finally stopped at around half the plate, shaking, swallowing, and feeling worse than before. He forced his face into a scowl as David stood up from his table and took his place in the center of the room. 

“Hello, Camp Campbell campers!” The lanky, grinning counselor was as cheerful as ever. “It’s a wonderful morning! Once you finish your breakfast, meet us at the field for soccer camp! After that is lunch. Once you finish your midday meal, go get changed and meet us at the lake for swim camp! Today is going to be busy, so eat up, campers!” 

As he practically pranced back to his seat, Max’s heart sank. Today, it seemed, was going to be a bad, bad day.


	2. Exposed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He couldn't hide it forever.

The next few hours were a blur. Max tried to participate as little as possible, but David forced him to play for a while. He tried his best to act like himself, despite the throbbing stitch in his side and sweat pouring down his forehead. Lunch was ignored, spent focusing his energy into sitting up instead of eating. He was exhausted, drained of life, and frustrated close to tears, and it was time for swim camp.

As Max trudged back to his tent, all his energy that was not going into forcing himself to walk was going into figuring out a plan. He eventually decided that he was not going to change. Instead, he would show up in his clothes. David couldn’t make him get into the lake in his clothes. He was too nice for that. 

Nikki and Neil arrived soon after he did, but in swim gear. Nikki wore a bright red wetsuit-style garment, and Neil uncomfortably wore pale green, baggy swim trunks. Max raised one eyebrow, and Neil threw his arms in the air. “Look, my dad picked them out, OK?”

Nikki’s giggles made Max’s mouth twitch. But his spark of happiness instantly disappeared once David popped into view, summoned by laughter. “Well, looks like someone’s excited!” he chuckled. Gwen appeared behind him, massaging her head and nursing a hangover. Her bloodshot eyes betrayed her irritation as she scanned the campers and saw Max in his hoodie, leaning against a tree under the shade. Her hands clenched, but she took a deep breath and calmed herself. 

As David began to explain the rules of swim camp, Max felt a tickling in his throat. He swallowed, trying desperately to ignore it, but it grew to be too much. His chest contracted without his consent, and he coughed violently into the crook of his arm. Heart pounding, he looked up at David, who was staring at him. “Gwen, could you finish introducing swim camp?”

Gwen groaned, but nodded and took David’s place as David himself went over to Max, who retreated as much as he could into his hoodie. His defiant, glassy eyes met David’s concerned ones.

“Max, are you alright? You don’t sound good.”

“I’m fine,” Max snapped, looking away. “I inhaled a bug. This stupid fucking camp is infested with them.” He swatted at the air with a scowl. 

David didn’t look convinced, but sighed and stood back up just as Gwen was finishing her monotone speech. She retreated, rubbing at her eyes. 

“Those are the rules for swim camp!” he said, plastering a smile on his face. “Have fun!”

Campers swarmed onto the deck, diving into the water with whoops and hollers. They were swimming and diving and splashing each other, laughing all the time. David watched with a smile, wanting to join in but knowing he should watch the kids. His smile disappeared as he noticed Space Kid, helmet filled with water, spluttering as he tried to swim. “AH! I’M COMING SPACE KID!”

David’s splash soaked the front of Max’s hoodie. With a noise of complaint, he backed away from the edge of the lake. “Fuck this,” he said aloud, and marched away from the water.

He settled himself against a tree in the shade. He sighed, trying not to shiver under his soaked blue jacket. He closed his tired, burning eyes for a moment.

After a moment, his glassy eyes snapped open to find Gwen’s bloodshot ones staring right at him. She was frowning. “Hey, Max, you alright? You don’t look so hot.”

He smirked. “If I don’t look hot, what’s that say about your ugly mug?”

Gwen’s concern disappeared. “You’re gonna pay for that, ya little shit.” She scooped him up by the hood, ignoring his protests and flailing limbs. “How about you let your salt dissolve in some water?” 

“Wait Gwen no wait no no please n—” his pleading was cut off as she swung him into the lake. He plunged into the water with a panicked shriek. 

Max flailed desperately, unsure of which way was up or down. His eyes rolled wildly in his head, and the weakness in his muscles combined with the shivering against the intense cold that surrounded him made it impossible to swim. He screamed, losing air, but the sound was muffled in the water. 

Suddenly, he heard a splash, felt someone’s hands wrap around his waist, and he was being lifted out of the water. Spluttering, coughing, and shivering more violently than before, Max gulped down air. It was only after his rescuer had come out and was hugging him, trying to warm him, that he realized it had been David. He expected rage to flow through him, but he was too tired for that. He had expelled the water from his lungs, but he was still coughing, still shaking in his heavy, soaking wet hoodie. 

Gwen had her hands pressed to her mouth, horrified at what she’d done. “Max, I-I’m so sorry! Are you ok? What happened? Can you swim? I’m so stupid!” she cried and clutched at her head, sinking to the ground. David glanced at her, worried, but then turned back to Max, who suddenly looked a lot smaller with his puffy hair wet and drooping. He was huddled into himself, dripping, and looking pathetic. This wasn’t the Max David knew. Max would’ve swum right back out and launched a stream of curses at Gwen, not nearly drowned. 

David picked up Max and carried him to a nearby bench, despite his feeble protests. He set the weak ten-year-old on the bench and sat beside him, reaching out to tilt Max’s face up to look into his own. 

His fingers made contact with burning skin. He and Max recoiled at the same time, Max hiding his face while he coughed, and David drawing his face up in a worried expression. Max had never felt more miserable. He felt so terrible and had no energy left. He gave in, and tears started flowing down his flushed, feverish skin.

“Max--” David began, his voice hushed. “Max, you should’ve… You should’ve told me. Have you been sick this whole day?"

Max nodded, sniffing and swiping his sopping sleeve across his eyes. The cynical ten-year-old had never looked more vulnerable. David’s face crumpled. “Max… why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve let you rest today instead of forcing you to-to run and, and play, and…” he trailed off as the camper pulled himself tighter into his ball. “Never mind that. C’mon, let’s get you to bed.” 

David heaved himself off the bench, then gently picked up Max in his arms, cradling the feverish child against his chest. He carried him across camp and into his own quarters, where he lay Max on the bed. Too exhausted to protest, Max simply curled up. David rummaged around, finding a few pairs of clean, dry, camper-size clothes. Although… looking at the camper who had tormented him for the entire summer, he realized that he was actually quite small. Not much bigger than Space Kid, to be honest. It was odd to see him look so small. 

He helped Max pull off his wet clothes and exchanged them for the dry ones. Once he had hung the sopping hoodie over a chair, he pulled back the covers and tucked Max into them. Slowly, the shivering stopped, although Max’s eyes stayed closed. His breathing slowed. The nightmare child, tamed by fever, was asleep.

David pulled up a chair next to the feverish figure. He did not intend to leave Max’s side until he woke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This got a lot more attention than I thought??? I mean, I know it's not a crazy amount of attention but it's like five times as much as I'd thought it would get so woah.


End file.
